"Xiaochen, I’m the director of the Innovation Park. It’s my duty to support student entrepreneurs like you. A few sets of desks and chairs are nothing. I can even get you so computers."
Seeing the suspicious look on Chen Yansen’s face, Cao Dahua puffed out his beer belly and spoke with a hint of displeasure.
"Computers, too?"
Chen Yansen was slightly taken aback. Surprised by Cao Dahua’s completely different attitude from before, he pressed with a smile.
"They’re old instructional machines being retired from the library’s computer lab. If you want them, I can have a couple moved over for you, no problem."
Cao Dahua said with a broad grin.
"Thank you, Director Cao, but I’ll take care of the computers myself."
Chen Yansen chuckled and waved his hand in refusal.
’Those old machines would probably struggle to run Minesweeper. They’d crash instantly if you tried to open a slightly large spreadsheet.’
"Heh heh, Xiaochen, I’m the one who offered the computers, and you’re the one who turned them down. If anyone asks later, don’t you go pretending you don’t rember."
Cao Dahua glanced around before leaning in and whispering.
’Soone will ask?’
’The dean? Or the university president?’
’No wonder this old fox’s attitude did a complete one-eighty. Soone must have put in a word for beforehand.’
’My project has barely gotten off the ground and soone’s already taken notice?’
"Director Cao, you’re my benefactor. How could I ever forget your kindness?"
Chen Yansen played along, responding warmly.
No matter who was watching, he understood the principle that the official on-site holds more sway than the emperor far away.
"Oh, right. There’s a water cooler in the storage room. Want it?"
Seeing that he knew how to play the ga, Cao Dahua imdiately added.
"Then it would be rude of to refuse."
’If I can get it for free, I’ll take it,’ Chen Yansen thought. He certainly wasn’t going to refuse. This was one of the perks of starting a business at the university; as long as the higher-ups had a use for you, you could always score so free resources.
After he moved the water cooler to the second floor, Cao Dahua summoned two "free laborers" and even helped him buy two jugs of purified water from the dorm manager in the next building.
There was no helping it. The water in Xucheng was hard, and if you didn’t want to lose a ton of hair, you had to drink bottled mineral or purified water.
As nine o’clock approached, people began to trickle in and head up to the second floor.
In an era where part-ti jobs paid less than 10 yuan an hour, a salary of over 2,000 yuan a month—plus Chen Yansen’s promise of providing an official internship stamp and a formal report—had attracted the attention of many juniors and seniors.
"He’s the project lead? He looks so young!"
"That’s Chen Yansen from the ’10 journalism class, you don’t know him? He swooped in and snatched the campus-wide representative spot from a P.E. junior. Just from selling campus cards, he probably made at least *this* much!"
"A hundred thousand!? Dude, do you even believe what you’re saying?"
The crowd was in a chaotic buzz, everyone chattering at once.
Chen Yansen glanced at the ti, cleared his throat, and shouted over the noisy crowd, "Students who want to join Senhai, please form a line. You all brought your resus, right? Paper or digital copies are both fine."
After speaking, he turned and sat down, leaving an empty chair directly across from him.
A simple interview space was thus set up.
"Huh? We need a resu? It’s just a part-ti gig, does it have to be so formal?"
"Fuck! This guy’s so damn pretentious! I’m out!"
"He’s just a freshman, doesn’t even call us ’senior.’ Has no manners at all."
Whispers and a few jeers ca from the crowd, and a couple of people actually turned and left.
Chen Yansen remained expressionless, his composure unshaken. ’They didn’t even prepare a resu,’ he thought. ’Good riddance.’
"For those interested in the front-end developer position, who wants to be first?"
Chen Yansen’s gaze swept across the faces in the crowd as he spoke seriously.
"Chen..."
A shorter guy wearing black-rimd glasses and a red-and-black plaid shirt stepped forward. But when he tried to greet him, he didn’t know how to address Chen Yansen.
’Junior Brother Chen?’
’Boss Chen?’
’Or just his na?’
"You can just call Chen Yansen. Give your resu and introduce yourself."
Chen Yansen nodded slightly, offering a faint smile.
"Uh... okay. My na is Zhang Wenbo. I’m a computer science major and a senior this year. I’m proficient in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and I also have so knowledge of front-end fraworks like jQuery..."
Zhang Wenbo adjusted his glasses, speaking in an organized manner.
Daring to be the first one up, he clearly had so self-confidence. He was well-spoken, and his descriptions of his studies and project experience were logical and clear. It was obvious he had put a lot of effort into his major.
Although Xucheng Academy was a second-tier university with plenty of students just coasting by, there were also many who were diligent and hardworking.
After the young man finished his introduction, Chen Yansen put down the resu and asked, "How would you implent a simple image carousel using JavaScript?"
He wasn’t looking for a bookworm who just morized theory, but a core developer who could get to work right away.
"Usually, you’d use a tir to control the image transition frequency and add control buttons to allow the user to switch manually."
Zhang Wenbo thought for a few seconds before answering seriously.
"I have a computer here. Can you code it live?"
Chen Yansen pushed his business laptop over to him.
"No problem."
Zhang Wenbo nodded confidently and took the laptop. There were no programming files on the desktop, but there was a mobile data card plugged in.
He skillfully went online, downloaded a lightweight JS editor and a testing tool, then started clattering away on the keyboard, coding on the spot.
Seeing this, many students with no practical experience quietly slipped away to avoid embarrassing themselves later.
In just ten minutes, Zhang Wenbo pushed the laptop back, launched the testing tool, and showed Chen Yansen the result of his code.
Chen Yansen didn’t say anything but continued with his questions. "How do you optimize webpage loading speed? How do you implent responsive web design? And how do you prevent XSS attacks?"
In his past life, although his background was in business and operations, he had been forced to learn so basic code and product knowledge during the early stages of his startup.
Faced with three questions in a row, Zhang Wenbo didn’t panic. He spoke eloquently while typing out code to demonstrate his points.
"Have you had developnt experience before?" Chen Yansen asked suddenly.
"I interned at an off-campus software company for half a year," Zhang Wenbo replied.
"Four thousand a month, two days off a week, six-hour workdays. Report for duty tomorrow. Any other questions?"
Chen Yansen considered for a mont, then gave Zhang Wenbo an offer on the spot. He knew there weren’t many seniors with this level of skill.
If he offered a lower salary, the guy might as well just take on freelance projects off-campus.
"Thank you, Pres... President Chen!"
Zhang Wenbo’s face lit up with joy as he stood to express his thanks.
He had worked part-ti at an off-campus software company and knew the market. Other companies might pay more, but they demanded at least ten-hour days with only one day off per week.
After rent and food expenses, there wouldn’t be much left.
It was nowhere near as comfortable as joining Senhai, where room and board were on campus. When you calculated the hourly wage, it was much higher.
"4,000! Holy shit! I thought when the job posting said 2,000-4,000, the salary would just be 2,000! I can’t believe he offered the top end of the range!"
"We wouldn’t get 4,000 for an internship off-campus, would we?"
"Forget about it. Those off-campus software outsourcing companies work their female employees like n, and their male employees like donkeys!"
The first offer was out, and the crowd’s enthusiasm for the interviews was instantly ignited.
But Chen Yansen’s own enthusiasm cooled just as quickly. Most of the subsequent interviewees were average at best, with poor practical skills. There wasn’t even anyone who was barely passable.
It seed he’d just gotten lucky with Zhang Wenbo.
’Sigh... I’ll have to recruit from outside the university if this doesn’t work out,’ Chen Yansen thought helplessly.
Just as he was about to start interviewing for the back-end developer position, Song Yuncheng ran up, hair in disarray. She ca to a stop, panting, and said, "Boss Chen, I’m here to report for duty."
Chen Yansen glanced at her. Her face was flushed and her forehead was dotted with fine beads of sweat. He said casually, "You’re in charge of collecting resus."
Song Yuncheng grunted in acknowledgnt, put down her school bag, and stood stiffly to the side like Chen Yansen’s personal secretary.
By noon, Chen Yansen still hadn’t found anyone satisfactory. Knowing he couldn’t rush it, he let out a long breath and said to Song Yuncheng, "Congratulations on your new job. Are you going to treat to a al?"
"Huh!? Are you kidding ? As the boss, shouldn’t you be the one treating ?"
Song Yuncheng was stunned and retorted.
"So you know I’m the boss. Aren’t you afraid I’ll make things difficult for you?"
Chen Yansen crossed his arms, threatening her half-jokingly.
"The cafeteria only."
Song Yuncheng’s chest heaved. Finally, she swallowed her indignation and said fiercely.
"What do you do with all the money you make? Just earn it and not spend it?"
Chen Yansen teased with a smile.
"None of your business, anyway."
Hugging the resus, Song Yuncheng followed behind Chen Yansen, muttering under her breath, "Heartless boss, always trying to fleece a poor girl like !"
"Right, send the specs for the computer you’ll need later."
Chen Yansen turned his head and said. Seeing her mouth moving without a sound, he frowned. "Are you badmouthing ? Calling a heartless boss? I’m telling you, I have very sharp ears."
"Huh? How did you... No, why would I ever badmouth you?"
Song Yuncheng’s mouth fell slightly open in surprise. Then, she denied it with a shifty smile, while thinking to herself: ’Holy crap, can he read minds?!’
"I can’t read minds, but it’s written all over your face!"
Chen Yansen made a fist and tapped her gently on the head as a small punishnt.
"You’re going to buy a computer?"
After her brain finished lagging, it finally caught up. She asked, her face full of pleasant surprise.
"It’s office equipnt. What are you getting so excited about? Stop daydreaming so much, it’ll make you stupid!"
Chen Yansen walked ahead, mocking her rcilessly.
"Thank you, Boss!"
Song Yuncheng bowed to him, her eyes filled with sincere gratitude.
"Just don’t be so cheap next ti and treat to a nice al at a restaurant," Chen Yansen replied with a light laugh.
Song Yuncheng gave an awkward smile and didn’t reply, scurrying to catch up to Chen Yansen like a little sidekick.
「anwhile」
The details of Senhai’s first job offer spread rapidly across campus.
"Six hours a day, 4,000 a month, and weekends off?"
"If I’d known, I wouldn’t have skipped class. I can’t even imagine what kind of amazing life I could live with 4,000 yuan a month."
"I heard the interview is super strict. In one morning, aside from the senior, Zhang Wenbo, dozens of people were all rejected!"
"Pengfei, you’re the star of our departnt. Why don’t you go give it a shot?"
In a junior’s dorm room, a guy with a face full of acne asked his roommate.
"I’m afraid the project won’t last more than a few months. It’d be a waste of ti," Xiang Pengfei replied after a few seconds of thought, looking up.
"You could earn a whole year’s living expenses in just a few months! If I had your skills, I’d definitely go for the interview!"
his roommate urged.
"Innovation Park, Room 206, right? Alright, I’ll go give it a try."
Xiang Pengfei pushed up his glasses, feeling tempted.
Similar scenes played out in countless junior and senior dorm rooms. Many people were so busy revising their resus that they didn’t even bother with lunch.
At the sa ti, quite a few people scoffed at Chen Yansen.
’By what right does a freshman get to hire upperclassn as his employees?’
’So what if he made a little money from campus cards? Just wait for him to lose it all!’
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